Landscape edging finds a wide range of uses by consumers and in the landscape industry. Common uses include separating decorative landscaping fill, such as mulch, bark, sand or gravel from other ground covering, such as a lawn. Other uses for landscape edging include providing a decorative border along driveways or sidewalks and around trees, bushes, planting beds or gardens and the like. Landscape edging may also be used to secure bricks or patio pavers in place, forming an edge between a patio, sidewalk or driveway and another ground covering such a lawn.
Landscape edging often comes in elongated strips that feature an L-shaped cross section where the vertical wall portion provides a vertical barrier for dividing the landscape fill from the lawn or other ground covering. The horizontal base portion of the edging includes holes through which anchor stakes pass into the ground to secure the edging in place. Such edging is often molded from a plastic material.
Another type of edging growing in popularity is modular edging that features a number of decorative block or link structures that feature an anchoring tab or similar structure at each end. Each block or link may be, as an example only, approximately twelve inches long. Each anchoring tab features an opening or anchoring bore there through with the anchoring tab positioned higher on one end than on the other. As a result, the links or blocks may be positioned end to end with the anchoring tabs in an overlaying configuration. Anchor stakes may be driven through the overlaying openings of the neighboring links or blocks and into the ground so that the links or blocks are secured together in a chain-like fashion. Such edging provides great flexibility in that curves may be easily accommodated and the links or blocks may be molded in a variety of decorative styles. Furthermore, the links or blocks may be molded from a variety of materials. Indeed, it has become increasingly common to mold the blocks from recycled material such as shredded rubber.
An anchor stake typically features a pointed penetration end that facilitates driving the stake into the ground and an enlarged head portion that with a top surface that the user pounds with a hammer or the like to drive the stake into the ground. When fully driven into the ground, the bottom surface of the head engages the top surface of the area surrounding the hole in the edging.
Various forces operate to urge landscape edging stakes out of the ground. These include people or animals inadvertently stepping on the edging, lawn equipment running on top of or over the edging and accidental contact with the edging by landscaping tools. In addition, the landscape fill being contained by the edging may become saturated with water so that a greater force is exerted on one side of the edging than on the other. Furthermore, freezing and thawing of the ground soil causes frost heave which may push stakes out of the ground.
In view of the above, landscape edging stakes have been developed featuring smooth spiral twists or helical grooves or threads. Such stakes, however, are too easily twisted out of the ground over time due to frost heave. In addition, stakes with circumferential ribs, where the ribs features horizontal top and bottom surfaces, have been developed. Such ribs, however, are also too easily pushed up out of the ground as the soil, due to frost heave, pushes up on the generally horizontal bottom surfaces of the ribs.
A need exists for a landscape edging stake and method that more securely anchors modular landscape edging in place.